The Little Letters - Day 19

1 John 5:6-12 6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 7 So we have these three witnesses— 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree.9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

These texts are interesting and are meant to be understood in the greater body of the work of John. There is mention of “blood and water” as a witness to Jesus Christ. Blood is not mentioned in the epistles of John other than here and in 1 John 1:7. The blood stands for the self-sacrifice of Jesus in death, and the water is meant to wash us clean, often considered to be the work of the Holy Spirit.
 
So this means that the witnesses that we have to the life and death of Jesus are both Christ’s sacrifice, the Holy Spirit, and truth.

If we were to think about the witnesses that we have to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus today, we would first go to scripture. However, there was no New Testament to go to as a witness back then. There was still the witness of John the Revelator, and then there was the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So they had to lean on the truthful teachings and testimony of John, the gospels, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We have to lean on some of those same things regarding the veracity of the testimony of Scripture, the witness of the community, and the hope we have in the Holy Spirit guiding us to all truth.

What do you take to be true when it comes to the testimony of others regarding Jesus? Do you believe what they say? Do you keep searching the scriptures for your understanding? What makes you know God more?
 
These texts are important in helping us understand how they used to think of the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

1. How do you know what is true? 
2. Do you ever sense the leading of the Holy Spirit as you study scripture? 
3. What can the community do to help you understand who God is?